Monarch boss upset over ‘next airline to go bust’ bets
31.12.09
Paddy Power has upset the boss of holiday airline Monarch after it put Monarch at 4/1 to be the next airline to go bust. After the collapse of Scottish holiday airline FlyGlobespan, Paddy Power reopened its market on the next airline to go under. And, following a flurry of bets over Christmas (reported to be 100 individual bets), slashed the odds on Monarch from 50/1 to 4/1. When the Irish bookmaker ran a similar market last year it listed FlyGlobespan and SkyEurope, both of whom failed this year, amongst its favourites.
However, the betting has been met with an angry reaction by Monarch. Its managing director, Tim Jeans, said: ‘If it wasn't so serious it would be laughable.’ He said that Monarch is ‘very secure’ and had been ‘consistently profitable’ over its 40-year history. When asked if Monarch was likely to go out of business in the next year (the period covered by the bets), he replied: ‘It just won't happen.'
He said that people may have bet on Monarch after two other holiday airlines went out of business - XL last year and Fly Globespan earlier this month - adding ‘People put two and two together. They say Monarch's a charter airline and make their bets accordingly. But Monarch's business is very different from those people.'
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air is second favourite at 5/1. Other UK airlines listed include Jet2 (10/1), BA (14/1), Thomson (16/1), bmibaby (18/1), Aer Lingus (18/1) and Flybe and Thomas Cook Airlines at 40/1. Virgin Atlantic and easyJet are 80/1, whilst Ryanair is at 100/1.
Paddy Power is also offering odds of 18-1 that outspoken Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary will be the next boss of British Airways!
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